‘Boys on the Side’ is an offbeat comedy/drama that overall works
despite flaws that would sink another film crafted by less skilled
hands. It doesn’t quite ring true, but it is consistently entertaining
and generally good-hearted.

Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) is a worldly, cynical, lesbian struggling singer
who resolves to move from New York to L.A. Robin (Mary-Louise Parker),
the woman who responds to Jane’s ad for a traveling companion, is a
determinedly cheerful realtor and heterosexual Carpenter’s fan who
would seem to be Jane’s antithesis. En route, they pick up Jane’s pal
Holly (Drew Barrymore), who in the course of fleeing an abusive
boyfriend takes more decisive action than intended. The trio stop in
Arizona, where the nature of their trajectories and relationships keep
them in place, especially Jane, who has fallen for the warm but
unresponsive Robin.

Don Roos’ script is liberally laced with killer one-liners, while at
the same time showing acute insight into behavior prompted by
unrequited desire. The plot takes some respectably surprising turns and
it’s a kick to see the glossy, playful way in which director Herb Ross
guides material that might tempt another filmmaker to be mournful
throughout.

However, as ‘Boys’ heads into its conclusion, Ross and Roos try to milk
the tearducts. This is not a crime, but a courtroom sermon on the
nature of female friendship is hardly something an audience needs --
especially when the lecture is as hazy and inappropriate to the
surrounding circumstances as this one is. (A concise and truthful
description of earlier events would be more helpful to our heroines and
more in character for the woman on the witness stand.)

More to the point, a great deal of the film revolves around Jane’s love
for Robin. Goldberg as Jane is lively, lifelike, gutsy and delightful
to watch -- but not for one instant does she seem to be
romantically/sexually drawn to Parker’s Robin. We believe there’s great
platonic affection between the two, but the only evidence of Jane’s
putative passion is in the dialogue. While comparisons are usually to
be avoided, viewers who have seen ‘Fried Green Tomatoes,’ which
featured Parker in a startlingly similar role, may remember the sparks
of wordless ardor there that are conspicuously absent from ‘Boys.’ We
still have a good time, but it’s hard to fully embrace a movie when one
of its key elements plays so falsely.

The all-female soundtrack here is aptly chosen and well-woven into the
narrative. It features everything from a fierce, scratchy rendition of
‘Piece of My Heart’ by Goldberg herself in Chapter 1 to a gorgeous
Melissa Etheridge ballad, ‘I Take You With Me’ over the closing
credits, which are worth sitting all the way through for Bonnie Raitt’s
joyous ‘You Got It.’